This news aggregator site highlights South African labour news from a wide range of internet and print sources. Each posting has a synopsis of the source article, together with a link or reference to the original. Postings cover the range of labour related matters from industrial relations to generalist human resources.
In our Thursday morning roundup, see
summaries of our selection of recent South African
labour-related reports.
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At 7.4% in June, consumer inflation reaches 13-year high BL Premium reports that Statistics SA advised on Wednesday that consumer price inflation reached a 13-year high in June. The consumer price index (CPI) accelerated to 7.4% from 6.5% in May, well above the upper band of the SA Reserve Bank’s inflation targeting range of 3%-6%. This was the highest rate since May 2009 when inflation reached 8% and was also above economists’ expectations of 7.2%. Prices continued to accelerate mostly for transport, which increased 20% compared to 15.7% in May, due to rising fuel prices, which continued to soar as a result of external price factors. The food and nonalcoholic beverages category increased 8.6%, up from May's 7.6%. The oils and fats subcategory was a particular contributor, increasing 32.5%. Investec economist Lara Hodes said food price inflation was expected to remain elevated, with prices of grain-related products, and oils and fats mostly at risk. Farmers were also facing heightened key input costs including fertiliser and fuel, further weighing on prices and profits, Hodes noted. Absa economist Miyelani Maluleke pointed out that higher food prices could well motivate workers to seek bigger compensatory pay hikes. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Thuletho Zwane at BusinessLive (subscriber access only). Read too, Inflation surges to 7.4% - highest in 13 years, at Fin24 Higher-than-expected consumer inflation puts 75 basis points interest rate hike on the cards BL Premium reports that consumer inflation came in worse than expected in June, raising fears that higher fuel and food prices might now feed into more generalised price pressures across the economy, further pressing the Reserve Bank to up the pace of interest rate hikes. Official figures showed consumer price inflation reached a 13-year high of 7.4% in June, well above May’s 6.5%. The consumer price index reading comes as the market waits for Thursday’s interest rate decision from the Reserve Bank’s monetary policy committee (MPC), which is expected to increase the benchmark repo rate by at least 50 basis points (bps) from 4.75% to 5.25%. SA is also experiencing high price pressures at the production level, with producer price inflation at 14.7%, creating an environment that does not provide for a rapid deceleration in domestic inflationary pressures. “Given more generalised price pressures, there is now a higher probability of a 75 bps rate hike,” predicted Johann Els, Old Mutual Investment Group chief economist. Bureau for Economic Research (BER) chief economist Hugo Pienaar said the BER has an out-of-consensus view for a 75 bps increase this week. He cited the more aggressive rate hike stance from several central banks since May, the weaker rand and an expected significant upward adjustment to the bank’s inflation forecast. “MPC could be more aggressive than is generally expected. In fact, though not our baseline, we do not completely rule out the possibility that the bank could hike by 100 bps this week,” Pienaar stated. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Thuletho Zwane at BusinessLive (subscriber access only). Read too, Inflation rate of 7.4% means consumers must prepare for repo rate headache, at The Citizen
Public Servants Association calls for Ramaphosa’s intervention to end SARS wage strike BL Premium reports that with renewed strike action at the SA Revenue Service (SARS) entering its second week, another 10 branches across the country have been closed since Tuesday, bringing the total number to almost 50. This as the Public Servants Association (PSA), which represents over 5,000 of the nearly 13,000 employees at the revenue service, called for President Cyril Ramaphosa’s intervention to break the wage deadlock as it claimed criminals were taking advantage of alleged lax security at borders due to the strike action. There are also fears the industrial action by PSA and the National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union (Nehawu) for inflation-beating increases could lead to SARS failing to meet its tax collection target for the 2022 tax season, which began on 1 July. SARS spokesperson Siphithi Sibeko, however, insisted this week that the tax collection season was going ahead as planned and that it would also ensure that “border operations will proceed as normal, with the available staff supported by a number of SARS officials deployed from head office and the regions”. At a briefing on Wednesday, the PSA’s Reuben Maleka said the strike action had resulted in the closure of “more than 80% of SARS branches, with borders being hit hardest”. He said the untenable situation could have been avoided by SARS tabling a real salary increase as workers were prepared to go back to work and service the country. Members of the PSA and Nehawu downed tools in May to demand increases of 11.5% and 12%, respectively. Their industrial action was suspended to allow for further negotiations, but resumed last week after talks with management deadlocked. Both unions have said the industrial action would continue until SARS revised its 1.39% pay hike offer currently on the table. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Luyolo Mkentane at BusinessLive (subscriber access only)
Cosatu vows to push more businesses to reverse vaccine mandates, dismissals Fin24 reports that labour federation Cosatu says it will push back hard against companies that impose any form of Covid-19 vaccination mandate on their employees – and will fight for those who lost their jobs because they refused to be vaccinated to be reinstated. This came after Standard Bank said last week that it would withdraw its vaccine mandate and would no longer require unvaccinated employees to test for Covid-19 before accessing its premises. The bank had dismissed 40 employees and put others on special leave. It has since said it would engage those who were dismissed to discuss reappointment options. Standard Bank suspended the policy after locking horns with Cosatu affiliate Sasbo, which had also threatened to take Old Mutual to the Labour Court for its vaccine mandate after the insurer dismissed 49 people. Cosatu said it expected other companies that imposed vaccine mandates on employees to follow Standard Bank in reconsidering their approach as the pandemic wound down. Last year, companies including MTN, Discovery, Anglo American, Old Mutual, Aspen, Life Healthcare, and ENSafrica all imposed some sort of internal policy about employees taking the Covid-19 vaccine in order to continue working, accessing the office, or enjoying certain benefits. Cosatu parliamentary liaison officer Matthew Parks said SA was facing economic devastation, lacklustre growth, rising household costs, and stubborn unemployment, which made a mandate of vaccination in the workplace untenable. "Many frontline workers cannot work remotely and face a different set of risks. There must be consultation between workers and employers in a company. The regulation provided for a medical exemption, constitutional and freedom of expression grounds," Parks pointed out. He said employers should have rather used counselling, discussion forums, and workshops to win employees over. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Khulekani Magubane at Fin24 (subscriber access only) Other internet posting(s) in this news category
Load-shedding not going away until we have sufficient capacity, Eskom warns TimesLive reports that according to Eskom’s spokesperson, Sikonathi Mantshantsha, load-shedding will continue until capacity of 4,000MW-6,000MW of capacity is created. Speaking on 702, Mantshantsha said: “SA does not have enough capacity to generate sufficient electricity for all of us, and that goes back to 2007. You cannot put a time frame [on it].” Mantshantsha said it would take at least 18 months to generate about 1,800MW of capacity. He stated that old power stations coming to the end of their useful life added to the battle to keep the lights on. “Each year these power stations are getting older and some must be retired. That gap will keep growing if there is nothing to replace them,” he warned. Earlier this week, mineral resources and energy minister Gwede Mantashe was reportedly in talks with President Cyril Ramaphosa about the establishment of a “second Eskom’’. The additional state-owned utility would work alongside Eskom and apparently focus entirely on generating electricity and building more power stations. Mantashe told Sunday Times that the country needed “baseload”, an apparent reference to burning coal. “What we are suggesting — it’s not a decision yet — is let’s have a second generation company of the state and that company must focus on baseload and there must be a build programme for power stations,” he indicated. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Unathi Nkanjeni at BusinessLive Government asks for trade union Solidarity’s help with Eskom skills crisis News24 Wire reports that Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan has asked trade union Solidarity to provide a list of people with the necessary technical skills to help government address the skills crisis at Eskom. On 14 July, Gordhan wrote to the managing director of Solidarity, Dirk Hermann, to thank the trade union for its offer in May this year to mobilise critical skills. The minister informed Hermann that Eskom required power station engineers – including mechanical, nuclear, electrical, system and maintenance skills, as well as senior artisans and plant operators for coal and nuclear power stations. He was responding to a letter from Hermann sent on 25 May this year to Gordhan shortly after the latter’s budget vote speech in Parliament when the minister had indicated that Eskom lacked engineering and technical skills. "Since 2000, Eskom has implemented a radical transformation programme to accelerate the transformation process at the state-owned enterprise at a cost of approximately R1.8 billion, while this programme has in fact reduced Eskom’s engineering and technical skills base," Hermann wrote. Solidarity had previously offered to assist government in redeploying skilled and experienced engineers, and in the past set up a skills database for its members and others to register their experience and qualifications. In 2019, the union provided Gordhan with a list of 705 names - consisting of individuals holding a cumulative 731 accredited qualifications, with a combined work experience of more than 500 years - but nothing happened. Between May and July, Hermann said, Solidarity added another 450 names to its 2019 list, after calling for people to put their names forward. The trade union said it would now set up a panel and whittle down the 1,100-plus list to the top 100 people. He said: “These top 100 change agents will have the ability to make tangible contributions to turn Eskom around. The question is, if the political will truly exists from government and Eskom to accept these individuals with open arms, and to give them the opportunity to help turn it around?” Read the full original of the report in the above regard at Engineering News. Lees ook, Regering vra Solidariteit se hulp met Eskom-krisis, by Maroela Media Solidarity warns it will go to court if Eskom’s application for a levy on consumers who generate power themselves is approved On Wednesday, Solidarity issued a statement describing Eskom’s latest application to the National Energy Regulator of SA (NERSA) as absurd, irrational and unlawful. The trade union warned that, if accepted, Solidarity would oppose the proposal “with all the legal recourse at its disposal.” This came after Eskom in its latest application requested among other things that a tariff of R938 per month be levied on consumers who are generating power themselves. According to Solidarity, SA’s only hope of getting out of the power crisis lies in small-scale power generation that is taking place on a large scale. “It is one thing if Eskom does not want to contribute towards solving South Africa’s power crisis. However, by making proposals such as this Eskom is changing from being a millstone around the neck to being an enemy of reliable power supply. If Eskom does not want to be involved in solutions itself we will litigate until at least Eskom no longer stands in the way of others who want to solve the matter,” Solidarity Chief Executive Dr Dirk Hermann observed. He went on to comment: “Instead of encouraging private power generation, Eskom now wants to tax it. Paying tax for a service is one thing; to pay taxes for no service is something totally different. Eskom now indeed wants to tax South Africans who are starting to provide their own services as a result of Eskom’s inability to supply power. Simply by tabling such a proposal creates huge uncertainty. The proposal should be eliminated as soon as possible.” Read Solidarity’s press statement in the above regard at Solidarity News Other internet posting(s) in this news category
Cosatu to march on 4 August in Cape Town to protest about government’s “lacklustre” approach to rising crime GroundUp reports that unions affiliated to the Congress of SA Trade Unions (Cosatu) are calling members out on strike on 4 August in protest against the government’s “lacklustre” approach to rising crime rates in Cape Town. Provincial secretary Malvern de Bruyn told a briefing on Wednesday that all spheres of government “don’t respect ordinary people”. He claimed that they “undermine the safety of the poor in the province”. De Bruyn said the union was demanding that the national (ANC) and provincial (DA) governments end gang violence, conduct regular police patrols in industrial areas, improve safety at railway stations and allow communities to evaluate their police stations. He advised that the union had applied for 3,000 people to participate in the protected strike. “We plan to bring the economy to a standstill so that the government can see how angry workers are.” The federation plans to deliver lists of demands to the City of Cape Town’s law enforcement department, the Western Cape premier and the national police minister. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Marecia Damons at GroundUp '2% is a shame', say Gauteng nurses as they march for better salaries, back pay TimesLive reports that Gauteng healthcare workers marched through the Johannesburg CBD on Wednesday to hand over a memorandum of demands. The nurses, affiliated to the Democratic Nursing Organisation of SA (Denosa), marched with Cosatu and Nehawu members to the offices of the Gauteng premier and the provincial health department. The healthcare workers said they were unhappy with a proposed 2% wage increase. “Because they did not give us in 2020 our increase, in 2021 they gave us that lousy one. They are still offering a 2% for this year comrades. What a shame. Imagine a 2% when petrol has increased by R10 already. Imagine a 2% when you never received a real increase,” Denosa president Simon Hlungwani said at the march. The group also complained about safety in health facilities. Nurses also said they were still awaiting their back pay after not being paid for three months. Read the original of the short report in the above regard at SowetanLive. Read too, Gauteng health workers and unions protest over ill-state of sector, at IOL
SA’s gold and platinum mines mark six months without fall-of-ground fatalities Mining Weekly reports that the Minerals Council SA (MCSA) reports that SA achieved a record six months without a mining fatality caused by a fall-of-ground (Fog) incident in its gold and platinum mines. The entire industry was Fog-fatality-free in the second quarter of the year. The MCSA (previously called the Chamber of Mines) said that building on the record performance in the first three months of the year, when one person was however killed in a Fog incident in the coal sector, the leadership initiatives, implementation of strategies, leading practices and the MCSA-led Fog Action Plan to mitigate incidents resulted in no fatalities in the gold and platinum mines for the first six months of the year. This was significant, because gold and platinum mines have not had a Fog-fatality-free first six months of the year in the history of SA mining, MCSA safety head Dr Sizwe Phakathi pointed out. There were 11 Fog fatalities by the end of June last year. In the past three years, inclusive of the industry’s record safety performance in 2019, Fog fatalities accounted for at least 20 deaths in each of those three years. “We are undertaking a comprehensive review to understand what went well and what we can learn from the past six months. The review will be done by the Minerals Council in collaboration with other stakeholders,” Phakathi advised. The results of the review will be unveiled during the National Day of Health and Safety in Mining on 3 August. Read the full original of the report in the above regard at Mining Weekly Other general posting(s) relating to mining
Numsa second deputy president says she was suspended to prevent her from running for union president Fin24 reports that National Union of Metalworkers of SA’s (Numsa’s) second deputy president, Ruth Ntlokotse, has claimed in court papers that her suspension was aimed at preventing her from running to be elected the union's president at its forthcoming conference. Ntlokotse has approached the Labour Court in Johannesburg to have her suspension from the union declared invalid. In her affidavit, she indicated that she planned to run for president against Mac Chavalala, whom she defeated in a SA Federation of Trade Unions (Saftu) conference in May to become president of Numsa's umbrella federation. The founding affidavit from Ntlokotse said she sought this relief on an urgent basis so that she could attend and participate in the union's conference in Cape Town next week. Ntlokotse submitted that the precautionary suspension of office bearers and shopstewards was meant to frustrate democratic processes by eliminating officials so they could not stand for positions. Ntlokotse's affidavit asserted that the central committee acted outside of the provisions of the Numsa constitution to place her on precautionary suspension. The affidavit also indicated that Ntlokotse wanted Numsa's Mpumalanga region to be allowed to participate in the upcoming conference. Alternatively, the conference should be halted, while the nature of the disputes that led to her suspension and that of 30 other officials was investigated and established. Numsa general secretary Irvin Jim said last week that the union's central committee meeting resolved that Ntlokotse should be suspended for acting outside of the union's wishes. Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Khulekani Magubane at Fin24
Numsa rejects MTN’s potential acquisition of Telkom Engineering News reports that the National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa) says the planned buyout of telecommunications group Telkom by MTN should be rejected as the privatisation of the partially state-owned enterprise (SOE) will be detrimental to the working class and the economy. Earlier in July, Telkom and MTN announced that they were in the early stages of discussions for a potential transaction that would see MTN acquire Telkom. “If these plans materialise, they must be rejected. Numsa condemns any plan to privatise Telkom. Telkom is a SOE and government, the shareholder, currently owns a 40.5% stake in it. We have consistently warned about the dangers of privatisation and the dire impact this would have on the working class and the economy,” the union indicated in a statement on Wednesday. Numsa, outlining five reasons for its stance, said that Telkom, as an SOE, had a developmental role to play in the SA economy. “Numsa will continue to drive campaigns to reject any further privatisation of Telkom and our remaining SOEs. Such a move will result in even more job losses and it will stifle economic growth even further,” the union said, while noting that Numsa would continue to drive an agenda for a job-led industrial policy within which the ICT sector must play a crucial part. Read the full original of the report in the above regard at Engineering News
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